Your letters

Your interview with Ingrid Betancourt omits to mention that the reason she was not given military transportation was that her mission was deemed extremely dangerous. Against all the advice, she went by car without bodyguards into Farc-controlled territory. Naïve? Stupid? Delusions of invincibility? Whatever her reason, having been rescued by the military at all the expense and risk that entailed, is it any wonder that many Colombians had little sympathy with her claims for compensation?Adam Porges London W5

I applaud Benjamin Mee's honesty. My wife died of leukaemia in 2007, leaving me widowed at 36. As a widower, you do not want to meet another person because you are still in love with the woman you married, but it is so tempting to take advantage of the fact that, to put it bluntly, you have the ultimate chat-up line. We should not feel guilty about our new-found freedom to date. We deserve a bit of happiness after what we've gone through.Matthew Taylor Carlisle

I was intrigued by your tale of widowers finding young girls in their beds and ladies queueing for their turn. On my planet, which is called Earth, being a widower is no fun at all.Lawrence C Paulson Cambridge

Benjamin Mee is a balding, middle-aged man who seems to suffer from the delusion that every woman who is nice to him has an ulterior, sexual motive. How did the women who helped him out in the weeks after his wife died feel when they read his withering verdict on them? They were probably just trying to help. I'm glad he found a girlfriend before this went to print, as I can't imagine many local women will give him the time of day from now on.L WrightLondon N8

When my husband died, I didn't come across the book recommending sleeping with someone half your age. Probably just as well: I was 29.Gail PittySlaley, Northumberland

While the cases in The Kids Aren't All Right may have been taken seriously, it's not like that for everyone. I was referred to my GP with suicidal feelings and self-harm at 13, but was told by a psychiatrist that I was too young to be diagnosed or given formal therapy. Four years later, my trust in the mental health system has been destroyed. I still self-harm, but feel unable to seek therapy because I do not want another meeting with someone who invalidates my emotions. Not every adolescent's mental health problems are taken seriously.Name withheld

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